The last three weeks were hard, spending as much time as possible building the Invictus, gathering ice, metals and exploring the areas further away from the base. Nothing found. This place is empty.
I need some rest.
But I've made so much progress - it's now a matter of days and I should be able to do a first test flight.
I'm following the standard dropship design for the Invictus : a bow section with cockpit, medbay and crew area (which I can use for living space) plus a stern section with fuel, engineering and the main drive. The only difference to a standard drop ship is this huge set of hydrogen and oxygen tanks. I hope I won't regret carrying that much explosive fuel with me.
The mid section, which is normally used for transporting material, vehicles or heavy machinery, will contain a refinery so I can stock up on building material in space if required.
In addition I'll take the small exploration ship with me. It has proven very useful and I'd not want to leave it behind. I can use the extra space in the mid section for a small hangar.
I'm sometimes wondering if this is a bit too much. If I should have gone for a smaller ship, just to get me off planet. I'd be in space right now, maybe even back to my fleet. But I could also be dead already.
Once the ship is ready I'll first try to reach this planet's moon. Maybe I'll do another sweep of the planet surface before leaving atmosphere, just to be sure.
I haven't found any gold or platinum yet. I might have to rely on the hydrogen drive once I am in space - luckily there are so many ice fields on this planet. I wouldn't have survived long without those.
Previous journal entries:
Day 1 - Day 2 - Day 3 - Day 4 - Day 5 - Day 6 - Day 7 - Day 8 - Day 11 - Day 14 - Day 18
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